The Montford Rooftop Bar — Restaurant in Asheville

This was an AWFUL Valentine’s Day experience. Made a reservation and it said it was a fixed menu with options, however they don’t show you the menu ahead of time. But me and the wife were like no problem, we’re pretty adventurous. We get there and finally see the menu the options are veal and Gnocchi. Which to only have two options, I understand it a a limited menu but you’re only providing one vegan option and one non vegan option. I’d assume the choice would have been something more all encompassing like a nice steak but we’ll move on. We both get the veal and we’re not told ahead of time that it’s medium rare but it comes out and it’s PINK AND COLD. So I’m thinking this definitely isn’t medium rare it’s just not cooked. The potatoes with it weren’t cooked correctly and everything tasted of earth/dirt. They also smothered it in mushrooms. Pretty odd choices again for a fixed menu, but I digress. 2 cocktails This entree, plus the “salad” at the beginning (it was half a plate of sprouts) and the desert (a slab of fudge) came out to be ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY DOLLARS. now I’m no stranger that this meal was going to be pricey but for the quality and the lack of options? I am severely disappointed. Not to mention the atmosphere/service. The waitress was nice enough but you were clearly rushed to get out and we were only in with all of those courses for 45 minutes. They also decided it would be a great idea to separate and put out every single table they owned so there was no space to move around. Unless you were bone skinny you basically had to shimmy and keep apologizing to everyone around you for your whole butt being on their table. The couple next to us even complained about their food and was met with “well these are the options we have available”. I get it’s a strict menu but come on. What about allergies? Or dietary restrictions? For such an expensive meal and a romantic holiday I was expecting to be greeted with good food and a nice evening. Now I’m out $200 for food I didn’t eat :). Absolutely do not recommend the...

I've worked in the service industry both FOH and BOH. I hate to leave reviews like this, but other reviewers are right: the service isn't great. I will start with the positives. I've frequented the Montford a number of times over the years and the drinks, views, and ability to get a seat (unless it's booked at sunset) are always great. Free valet parking is a perk but I typically walk there. I went with a party of 3. We ordered drinks, dinner and dessert. They just changed over the menu and the highlights were the truffle fries, brisket Mac & cheese, and fried green tomatoes. Very flavorful, perfect servings, and all on point. My fried chicken was overcooked and dry, mashed potatoes were dry and unbalanced -- just not a great a combo. The pastries for the seasonal summer dish were really hard to bite into and overwhelmed the dish--we expected more fruit. We ordered 3 different cocktails and 2 rounds of cocktails, and it took a while for them to arrive but they were delicious. The host was new and very nice, and they were able to seat us without a reservation, which I greatly appreciated. Space was half-full when we arrived. The service overall just wasn't great...we were seated near the kitchen doors, and I could overhear very tense convos by the staff. Our server seemed stressed about everything. She took our card to start a tab at the beginning (new to me, but understandable at a very touristy place), they didn't give us silverware until we had to ask for it, never refilled our water carafe, and when I dropped my knife on the floor from a tall bar top, there were 3 people who stood nearby and no one offered to get me a new one, nor did anyone check on us frequently enough for me to ask for a new knife. She was visibly annoyed when I asked to split the check (between 2 parties, not difficult) and said, "This is going to take me a while." I smiled and said it was fine. No one acknowledged us as we left. Our party spent close to $200 + tips. I really want to support my local spots, but I probably won't be back...

We’ve been here several times. This is a review of our most recent visit. Why is this three stars and not five? Certainly the view is outstanding! And the food is good, although you are paying for the view, so the food is expensive, but you’re not really coming for the food, you’re coming for the views and the craft cocktails.

The pros are that the bar has valet parking, and there is EV charging, which is great. The view, of course, is a big positive. The drinks are very good. They are consistent with any other craft cocktail bar in town. All the standard high-end elements are here. And the drinks are priced understanding that the view is a big attraction as well. So, certainly not inexpensive but not over the top. Again, consistent with the other craft cocktail places in town.

The cons are that there are quite a few tourists, and something really odd happened during what I assume was changeover for the staff. Our server was excellent, and then there was some rumbling and there seemed to be a bit of an argument with the staff, and lots of buzzing and moving and changing while we were there. It was a bit uncomfortable, not quite sure what was happening, or if we was going to get our server back. She disappeared for a long time, but eventually came back. She was excellent! But during that odd shift change out, she was nowhere to be found, and unfortunately, it was our time to go. In fact, we didn’t really see any servers during that shift change out, as they were all in the corner having a conversation, so something must’ve happened. Perhaps they were understaffed, or somebody came in when they weren’t supposed to. But instead of taking a few minutes to resolve, it was a lot of time to resolve. She finally did return, and we were able to get our bill.

We will return and hope to come back when it is not as touristy and hopefully we will not encounter this...